


For you, there's nothing I wouldn't do

by Minnhae



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Jason is a goof in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22565476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minnhae/pseuds/Minnhae
Summary: Jason has the biggest favor to ask from Marinette, and of course she agrees to help him. That's just what a best friend does.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Jason Todd
Comments: 122
Kudos: 466





	1. Chapter 1

"You've officially lost your mind, Jay, I swear to God."

When Marinette had agreed to get up early on a Sunday morning because Jason had asked her to hang out, she didn't think she'd regret it five seconds into meeting her best friend at their favorite restaurant. And she hadn't yet, but it was very close. 

"Nette, please, I'm begging you right now. Do you want me to kneel and plead? Because I will, don't try me." His blue eyes had always been her weakness and the puppy face he was making at her right now almost made her agree on the spot to whatever insane plan he had come up with. The keyword being  _ almost _ . 

"Alright, let me just reiterate to make sure I'm understanding. Your father is hosting a gala in a month and you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?" Marinette tried to keep her face as straight and serious as possible but it was proving hard since the words she had just said sounded _ utterly ridiculous _ . 

"Pretty much, yeah. So, will you? I swear I'll pay you if I have to, I just need you to help me out with this." He had started to look hopeful since she had yet to outright deny him his request. "You know I love you Bug, and you're the only one I can trust with something like this."

Damn, he was good at telling her exactly what she liked to hear, and Mari was just not strong enough to say no to him, though she did plan to at least make him sweat a bit more for it. "Oh really? And what if I asked you for, I don't know, a new car?"

Her forced attempt at being difficult hadn't flown under Jason's radar as he seemed to pick up on it and smirked. "We both know you would never ask for that since you refuse to let me pay for anything every time we go out, but if you did ask for that, know that I'm ready to do whatever you wish me to do. Do you maybe want an apartment? You did mention wanting to stop paying rent… "

Despite the teasing tone in his voice paired with the sly smirk on his face Marinette knew he was dead serious which, even if it flattered her that her friend would even think about doing such a thing for her, made her backtrack on being difficult immediately.

"No! Argh, you're impossible. Fine, I'll follow along to whatever your brilliant plan is, but don't you dare buy me an apartment, you crazy knobhead." The look she shot at him tried to be venomous but seemed to be ineffective when the brightest grin took over Jason's face as he moved to sit by her side to squish the living daylights out of the tiny woman. 

"I swear I don't know what I did to deserve you Nette, I love you."

That earned him a playful smack on the arm as Marinette gave in and chuckled at his antics. "I love you too, you goofball. Now, get off of me and finish your breakfast."

The man sat across her once again looking like the cat that got the canary, Cheshire grin in place. "You're the best." 

She pretended not to notice the way her heart paused for a beat when she saw the way Jason was looking at her, with caring eyes as if she was incredibly precious. Instead, the woman hid her face behind her mug of coffee. 

"W-why do you need me to do this anyway? What do you need a fake girlfriend for?"

Jason's demeanor instantly changed, his shoulders squared up and he frowned. "The annual gala my father holds for the company's investors and partners is always full of old men who are full of themselves-"

"Doesn't that remind me of someone?"

"Oh shut up, I at least have a good reason for it. They're nothing more than a bunch of old hags who like to brag 24/7, and since this gala is in their "honor" they can bring guests with them. If I have to go by another year hearing them pitch their daughters and grand-daughters to me hoping I'll date one of them, I'll simply kill one of them. Some of the girls over the years have been nice but for every decent one you can actually talk to, you have at least 9 others doing the most ridiculous things to try and get your attention. I assume it's what they are asked to do but I swear… And everyone else gets out of it too. Dick is already married to Kor'i, Tim is forever married to his job and Damian is not old enough for most of them. So that leaves me, the handsome Jason Todd, to carry the family's weight on my shoulders." 

She snorted at the theatrical sigh he let out before laying his head on the table, immediately regretting it as he looked up at her with a glint in his eyes. "That's where you, my dear Miss Dupain-Cheng come in. If I have a girlfriend, those girls will have to effectively back off of me as well, and I won't have to restrain myself from being incredibly rude to them."

“As if you could actually restrain yourself from being rude.”

Whether he didn’t hear her or just decided to ignore her comment Mari didn’t know, but once the monologue had been delivered, he leaned back on his seat with his signature smirk. "I'm a genius, I know."

It took a whole lot from Marinette not to smack her dumbass of a friend again, but even she had to admit no one deserved to have their space invaded as she knew Jason had had in some of the other events his father organized, and if he was being truthful with her, then this gala was shaping to be even worse in that regard. If she could help her friend it would be enough for her, but in doing this she would also have an opportunity to design a gown to wear and hopefully get some people interested in her designs. Maybe she didn't regret agreeing to this that much anymore. 

"You're one hell of a crazy person, Jay. You're lucky you're my best friend." She rolled her eyes and nudged his leg with hers under the table with a smile. "We'll have to do some planning this month and you better be ready. I'm not meeting your family for the first time as your fake girlfriend without running through each and every way this could catastrophically end."

His shoulders relaxed as he nudged her leg back, relief flooding his face seeing her so committed. "Don't worry Bug, they will love you, and I'll explain everything to them after this is over, but if they are in on it from the start I just  _ know _ one of my brothers will screw it up. I think we can pull it off though, and you know I'm always up for a challenge."

The already familiar confidence rush that ran through Marinette whenever Jason reassured her that everything would be fine made an appearance once more, and at that moment she completely trusted themselves to be able to make do with this crazy-ass plan. After all, Jay was stubborn and always ready to jump in head-first into the weirdest situations.

Newsflash. This time he wasn't. 

Jason had known it was risky to ask his best friend to play pretend so he could get rid of the sticky girls from the gala.

Not because he thought she would refuse, but because of his own feelings. 

Truth is, he was in love with Marinette and had been ever since five months into their friendship they encountered two thugs trying to rob a teenager on their way to school. Jason had put one of them down but, before he could go for the second one, Marinette already had knocked him out. 

Her breathing was just a bit labored from throwing the man over her shoulder and one of her pigtails had come off from where the robber had grabbed it, but then she turned to wink at him with a smile before going to see if the teen was alright. Red Hood could only feel the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.

Knowing Marinette was potentially able to kick his ass at any given moment had made him feel all kinds of things, and he was already a goner by the time she was back by his side.

That same night, and back in his bed, Jason was mulling over the earlier events. Read: thinking about Marinette. He had never felt so flustered around the tiny woman and it had proven to be a hard task to get her out of his head even when she had left for her own house several hours ago. 

One thing led to another and soon he found himself reminiscing about the past months spent in Marinette’s company. How she always seemed to brighten up any room she walked into, making him feel like he should look away but being unable to. Her caring nature taking over whenever someone in need of help was in the vicinity, the tenderness with which she treated people’s injuries, be it physical or emotional.

Jason remembered the first time he had been at the receiving end of it. It had been the time when his identity as Red Hood was also revealed to her.

In his defense, he hadn’t expected Marinette to arrive early to his flat for their movie night only to find him trying to get the cuts all over his abdomen and arms to stop bleeding. Time seemed to freeze as they stared at each other, one sitting on a barstool at the kitchen isle, the other standing at the door with a bag of snacks in her arms. Marinette, being the quick-witted and resourceful person she was, recovered astoundingly quickly from her stupor and started chastising him while tending to the cuts herself while he could only look at her in awe.

Later, when he explained where he got injured, she didn’t seem fazed by discovering his identity. If anything she seemed...smug?

“What’s with that face? I expected more of a reaction:”

Her smile only grew at that as she put on the last bandage around his arm. “I’m glad you finally told me, but I kind of...already knew? I mean, I had my suspicions. You two had roughly the same measurements as far as I could tell, you also happened to go MIA whenever there was an emergency a time too many for it to feel like a coincidence. Also the little stunt you pulled the other day talking to me in the mask? You should’ve at least tried to fake your voice or something.” Once she was done she patted his head with a wink and left him to process everything while she prepared the popcorn.

That wink had been so cheeky it left him swooning, heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Wait. That had felt familiar.

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Jason was brought back to the present with such force he thought someone had slapped him. Laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling at 3 am he couldn’t tiptoe around the issue anymore. He wondered how he hadn’t reached this conclusion much earlier.

_ He was in love with Marinette. _

_ He was in love with his best friend. _

Dear God, he was so  _ fucked. _

That had been the moment he accepted he was so utterly in love with Marinette, and even though Jason had hoped that what he thought was a very one-sided love would subside eventually, with each passing day where he got to know her better and better he only fell harder for her.

Why was he even thinking about all of this? Oh right. He had asked Mari to play pretend as his girlfriend that same afternoon.

What could possibly go wrong?

Marinette had taken it upon her to have their lie be as believable as possible, which meant she wanted them to at least plan out what they’d do if certain situations arose while they were navigating the gala. What this meant was that the following month they had spent a whole lot of time together, maybe too much for Jason’s sanity to remain as stable as it could.

Even if he was used to meeting her at least twice a week and spending their weekly movie night together, Mari practically lived in his apartment now. And he wasn’t complaining at all, but by the gods, if it wasn’t so damn distracting to have her around. She would often keep him company while asking questions about the people who would attend the gala, working on her dress for it, or simply walking around the house jokingly complaining about how Jason tasteless choice of furniture and decorations made the living room look like a yard sale.

Oh, and there was also all the teasing. There had been a consistent amount of it between them before, but now it had turned into a constant stream of cheeky comments, smirk exchanges and usually a smack or two from Mari.

All in all, Jason had lived through both the most blissful yet most frustrating month of his life and the worst of it had yet to arrive, though time did pass by way faster than he would’ve hoped for. 

And just like that, the big night was upon them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this first part! I'm already working on the following ones as I have a couple of free weeks ahead of me so look forward to that! If you wanna stop by my Tumblr is @otpnesssmess - Lis


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me some time but it's finally here! This chapter is more than double the last one so I hope you like it! - Lis

The previous day, Marinette had said she needed quite a lot of time and had “so much stuff it would be a hassle to carry it all to your house” to get ready, so they agreed on Jason picking her up from her apartment before driving them both to the gala.

Jason Todd prided himself on being able to remain stoic and emotionless no matter the situation at hand. Fighting numerous villains in what was probably the most crime-ridden city in the world did wonders for learning how to handle pressing situations. Right now, however, his sweaty hands and churning stomach seemed to go against all of that.

As much as he would’ve liked to blame it on the strangeness of the situation, he knew what the true source of his nerves were the moment Mari stepped out of her front door clad in the most beautiful dress Jason had ever seen.

Marinette had refused to even let him have a glimpse of her sketches for it before it was ready. The one detail she had let him know was the color: red, and that was only because she had taken him shopping for fabric for both their outfits for the night. 

Despite being dressed by MDC herself in a gorgeous classic black tuxedo with a matching red tie, the man felt highly underdressed next to what he was sure was an angel, descended from the heavens in a mission to enchant all of humankind. And, apparently, Jason was her first target.

The sweetheart-necked bodice hugged her torso. Lining the seams and scattered on the fabric was a myriad of miniature crystals that would’ve gone by unnoticed had they not reflected the light in a way that made the fabric look like a red sea of stars. The same crystals bled into the below-knee skirt, and the handiwork could be appreciated in full as Marinette walked, revealing different colors of the same crystals in between the creases of the fabric sewn in beautiful patterns.

Jason was completely frozen in place as he drank in her appearance, however, Mari didn’t give him time to recover before approaching him with that brilliant smile of hers.

“I never thought I’d see the day you’d be early for anything Jay. I had just finished getting ready:” Her playful chuckle finally brought him back to the present as she complimented him. “You look incredibly handsome. I wonder who made you that suit? It’s incredibly well done.”

All right, teasing. He could do that. It was just Marinette, his _very good friend_ who he definitely wasn’t in love with, looking like a siren trying to lure him to jump into shark-infested waters. 

“Oh, this? Just some designer...MCS, if I’m not wrong. They’re pretty ok.” Putting on his best mask of cockiness and being a prat like he usually is would have to work.

The woman did her very best to try and pretend she wasn’t holding in her laughter but failed in the end, making the both of them collapse laughing onto their seats. “MCS? Doesn’t ring a bell, I’ll have to look into them.”

“You should. They’re quite talented, you would probably get on well with them.” Regaining his natural confidence, Jason turned on the engine and started the fairly short ride to the hotel where his father was hosting the gala. “By the way, you look absolutely beautiful Nette. You always manage to outdo yourself.” 

A stolen glance at her told him she was rapidly turning the color of her dress as she sputtered trying to find a suitable answer. “Thank you, I wasn’t sure how well the color would suit me but I wanted to give it a try and I think it turned out nicely.” She took a deep breath before she could let herself fall into rant mode, a habit she had been trying to break for years now. “You look dashing too, and I’m not saying that because I made the outfit. I’m sure you’ll be turning some heads tonight.”

Now the both of them had been rendered two blushing messes right as they arrived at their destination. 

“I suppose you’re right, but that’s why you’re here. Right, ma minette? To keep me safe from those heads” Jason chuckled. “We have to face the cameras now, are you ready?” 

He really hoped Marinette would feel comfortable walking the red carpet and vowed to do his best to make it happen. They waited inside the car for a minute as his fake girlfriend took a couple of deep breaths before looking him in the eye with determination. “Ready.”

The following minutes went by in a blur to Mari. No longer than a millisecond after Jason had opened the door for her and she had latched onto his arm ready to play her part had the press appointed to cover the event started firing question after question towards the pair. Her partner for the evening answered most of them, with her chiming in occasionally to provide a detail or two. It wasn’t an unpleasant experience but, as she wasn’t used to being the center of attention, it was a rather draining one. 

Once they managed to escape the press Jason pulled them aside to get something to drink before someone recognized him and tried to engage in conversation, which was sure to be unpleasant for the pair in 99% of cases. 

Marinette was fretting with her dress, her eyes darting around the room like she was expecting someone to jump and accuse them of faking their relationship, thus ruining their plan. She couldn’t even think about letting an entire month’s worth of work go to waste because she wasn’t being careful enough. Just as the spiraling had started, a champagne flute was shoved into her face by Jason, and the confusion was enough to snap her out of her train of thought.

“You’ll need this if you want to be ready to deal with the vultures hiding under the fake politeness, _dear_.” He said this in such a sickeningly sweet tone of voice Marinette almost snorted into her drink, which was a good sign. Jason could see her shoulders relax slightly and that made him feel quite daring for a moment.

“Oh, will I now, my birdie?” If Marinette noticed his hand cradling her waist as they shared the champagne, she didn’t mention it. However, much to his amusement, she had now started fidgeting around with his suit trying to fix whatever flaws she saw, even if Jason knew there probably weren’t any. Her work was flawless.

“Will you stop that Nette? Everything’s perfect, you made it.”

To that she finally looked up at him with narrowed eyes, making him want to instinctively duck. “I thought you had said it had been that so-called MCS” she pretended to gasp. “Were you lying to me, Jay? I can’t believe it...I should consider breaking up with you.”

Their seriousness lasted for about 0.1 more seconds before the both of them dissolved in a fit of giggles attracting several judging stares from people from around the room, not that either of them noticed that, lost in each other’s eyes as they were. Although the noise did cause someone to notice them.

“Jason? Jason Todd? I’ve been looking for you!”

If Jason’s face had been full of joy moments prior, there were no traces left of it as he heard the high-pitched voice. His grip on Marinette’s waist tightened as he leaned closer to whisper in her ear.

“Here’s the first challenge. And it's a hard one.” Putting on a forced smile he turned towards the newcomer still holding onto Mari for dear life. “Lena, hey.”

“I was wondering whether you had disappeared again since you weren’t answering my texts. You look wonderful as always!" 

The smile she sent his way made Marinette want to turn tail and get them both out of there as quickly as possible. It was so sickly sweet, and paired with the batting of her eyelashes made it so only someone who was completely oblivious could miss the fact that she was trying to be flirty. 

Jason had already recovered from his surprised state, giving way to a barely concealed annoyed expression. As this Lena girl moved to grab a hold of his arm he moved out of the way, making her stumble into a waiter.

The collision was nearly a disaster, salvaged only because Dick had spotted them and had arrived just in time to hold the tray full of drinks before it could crash to the ground. The young waiter apologized profusely seeing just who he could’ve covered in champagne, a terrified expression settling on his face.

“I’m so so sorry Mr. Grayson!”

“Don’t worry, nothing happened!” The older man smiled at him trying his best to reassure the poor guy but seemed to be ineffective as he scurried away as quickly as he could.

Lena took this moment to attempt once more to get Jason’s attention by whining so loud about her splashed dress Marinette started thinking about the most efficient way to sew her lips together with the emergency sewing kit she had in her clutch. 

Maybe she had spent way too much time with her friend this past month.

Thankfully, she was saved from having to execute her plan by Dick apologizing to Lena for the incident and offering to call a waiter to help with her dress. 

Even if his face and voice denoted nothing but politeness, Mari could tell he was at least a little bit annoyed at the brunette, which made her feel better about her own feelings towards the other girl. 

Lena tried once again to get Jason's attention but, once she saw he wasn't going to move a single finger for her, she had no choice but to accept the help. At that, Dick signaled to one of the staff walking around the room to stop for a moment and instructed them to help the woman out with the stains on her clothes. 

She was reluctant to leave at first, but a sweet smile that had a dangerous undertone to it from the oldest Wayne had her scattering in no time. 

Dick's bright smile vanished the second she was finally out of sight and turned to his brother. "Well that was unpleasant. I didn't think she was invited Jason, I would've warned you otherwise."

"No worries, I should've expected her to somehow manage to get herself in. At least she didn't cause much trouble."

"Barely. But anyway, where have you been? Everyone's been looking for you and you know you can only avoid us for so long" he chuckled. "Let's go."

As they started walking, she could feel the looks Jay’s older brother was throwing their way, and even if she knew he was the most harmless out of all of his siblings (according to what Jason had told her but completely crashing with her first impression of him), she couldn’t help but feel nervous about finally meeting his family.

Despite how close the two were, Marinette had never met the Waynes. Of course, she knew of them because of Jason’s constant complaints about their daily shenanigans, but she had never been invited over to the manor.

She sometimes wondered about the reasoning behind his decision to not get her to meet his family, but quickly stopped because the only things that came to mind were less than desirable. Mari knew deep in her heart Jason wasn’t embarrassed by her or anything, but her mind couldn’t help but assume it was probably something of the like that made him so reluctant to introduce her.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the man next to her wrapping an arm around her waist. “If you’re going to ask something just fucking ask it already Richard. You’re making her uncomfortable looking at us like you’re a gossipy old woman.”

He had the decency to look ashamed at that and chuckled. “Easy there, I wanted to wait until we were with the others. You know they’ll all be as curious as I am, as well as wondering why you suddenly decided to not come with us only to appear with a mystery girl. I’d rather you not have to repeat yourself.” He then turned to Marinette with a gentle smile and offered his hand. “And I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. I’m Richard Grayson, but everyone calls me Dick, and I’m this dumbass’ older brother.”

“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It’s nice to meet you.” Channeling her inner Ladybug, she found the confidence to smile back and shake Dick’s hand, to which he appeared to be delighted.

“A pleasure! Are you French? That accent-” He cut off himself after Jason cleared his throat. “Right, let’s get moving. I’m sure everyone will be so excited to meet you!” 

He started maneuvering around people as he guided them towards the back of the room where there was a double glass door to the balcony. Jason leaned close to her to mention into her ear, since there was a lot of noise around them, that his father liked to have a private space for the family where they could rest if the socializing became too much, mostly thinking about Tim and Damian. 

Mari, however, got only half of that because, when she turned to look at him, she got distracted by the feel of his lips grazing her ear, as well as the hold he still had on her waist. Had Jason’s eyelashes always been that long? Had his eyes always been so blue?

Wait. What.

“Earth to Nette? Are you there?”

“Ah, yes! S-sorry, I was thinking about something. What did you say?” Jason’s chuckling made her blush and swat at his arm playfully. “Oh shut up and just tell me.”

“I was saying that I’m pretty sure everyone is in there right now, and if you’re not ready we can just walk around some more before I introduce you to them. They can be...a lot to deal with.”

“And go back to dealing with the whining vulture we met earlier? Don’t underestimate me, Jay.” She smirked at him and patted his cheek. “I can do this, and so can you. We didn’t work our asses off for a month to back off at the last minute, did we now?”

Now it was him whose brain stopped working for a moment as he considered just kissing Marinette senseless right then and there for being incredibly amazing. As far as he was concerned, he could probably take on anything as long as he had her by his side, and thus he resigned himself to accept the fact that this was going to be a very long night.

It was Marinette who finally took the first step into the balcony, Jason following closely behind. For a blissful moment, no one other than Dick noticed them, and it gave her the opportunity to assess the situation.

The oldest brother was standing next to a beautiful dark-skinned woman who Mari recognized to be Kor’i, his wife. They were both chatting with a lanky teenager and a short-haired woman, Tim, Jason’s second youngest brother, and Cassandra if she wasn’t wrong.

Moving on to the bar, the two women appointed there must have been Barbara and Stephanie, though she couldn’t particularly remember which was which they both looked stunning in their cocktail dresses. She tried to recall what their relationships to Jason were but it had been so long ago the details had faded from her memory.

Lastly, at least one of the two teens sitting over in the couches who were busy stuffing their faces with food and chatting must’ve been Damian, the youngest brother. She came up with a blank for the other boy’s name, though.

There was no trace of Bruce Wayne or their butler anywhere which immediately made Marinette relax a fair bit. She doubted any of them would object to her “dating” Jason, but the possibility was still there, and even if Bruce’s opinion wasn’t that important for her friend (or at least that’s what he had said), Alfred’s definitely was, and she wanted to leave the best first impression on him. 

“Jason! There you are!”

“Why didn’t you come with us today?”

“Is it true what Dick said?”

While Mari was lost in thought yet again, Barbara and Stephanie had spotted them and started bombarding Jason with questions after approaching the pair. They caused quite the ruckus, which meant everyone else was quick to join them. Sensing his fake girlfriend’s growing discomfort, Jason made sure to put some breathing space between them and the swarm of his siblings before answering the barrage of questions coming from all directions.

“Jeez, chill out. Did you guys really miss me that much? I was gone for like, three hours tops.”

“Well, excuse us for wondering why you suddenly weren’t whining like a little bitch about having to come. And then Dickie here said you were coming with someone and-” Steph’s eyes were drawn to Marinette as the latter giggled because of the banter and gasped. “Is it you? You’re so cute! What’s your name?”

Now feeling a bit more comfortable and confident as she held onto Jason’s arm, she easily replied to the other girl. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I’m Jason’s girlfriend.” She immediately looked up searching for his eyes, not expecting, however, to already have them on her. 

Her earlier questionings came back to mind as both pairs of blue eyes met, Jason’s sporting a mischievous spark as well as such tenderness that could’ve made her kiss him had they been actually dating. He must’ve been a good actor if she fell for it so easily, even knowing the true circumstances of their “relationship”.

“I can’t believe this is happening, Todd got a girlfriend? Is the world ending or something?”

“Damian!”

The spell that held them there suddenly vanished, broken by Barbara’s scolding. Marinette thought she saw a hint of sadness or regret cross Jay’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared, making her think she had imagined it. Though she did have to resist the urge to laugh when she heard him let out an exasperated sigh.

“What? That’s exactly what you all are thinking! Don’t chastise me for saying it out loud! He always-”

Whatever Damian was planning to say next was cut off by a yelp. Next everyone knew, the other boy had grabbed his arm and was dragging him away while waving at them with an overtly excited smile on his face. 

“I’m so sorry about him, he’s just being dumb right now. It’s nice to meet you Marinette! I’m Jon Kent, Damian’s best friend. Hope to see you again sometime, bye!”

Chuckles were heard from several members of the family as Damian seemed to be fighting Jon to let him go and move the hand he was holding against his mouth. Though the young boy was trying with all his might, his friend refused to budge and managed to get him back inside in record time much to Marinette’s surprise.

Once they were out of sight, Tim was the one to speak up while everyone else was still laughing at their younger brother. “I hope you can forgive Damian, he’s still a bit rough around the edges when it comes to people-”

“You can say that again.” No one but Mari seemed to hear Jason’s comment. Still, it earned him a pinch on the arm for being rude, and if anyone did notice him flinch slightly, they didn’t mention it.

“But I’m sure he doesn’t hold anything against you. I’m Tim Drake, by the way, the second youngest.” He finished by flashing an easy smile and offering his hand.

“A pleasure to meet you, Jason told me a lot about all of you. I couldn’t wait to meet everyone.”

Tim seemed surprised by her words as his eyes widened and he looked at Jason with something akin to a smirk. “Did he now? That’s interesting.”

Next to her, Jason snorted and wrapped an arm around the bluenette’s shoulders. He had lost his early inhibitions about being too close to Marinette (in case his real feelings sold their secret out) when Lena first approached them, and he was now embracing the dating part of fake dating.

In essence, he was going to at least enjoy this one night where he could pretend he wasn’t a coward and that the woman he loved, loved him back. And so he started a little game with himself to see how long he could last without letting go of Marinette, starting by playing with the stray hairs that had fallen out of her bun before answering to his brother.

“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy. Do you really think I would’ve brought her here without giving her a disclaimer about my crazy family first? Tolerating all of you is no small feat and I love her way too much to let her be scared away by any of you.”

Only after sensing Marinette tightening the grip on his waist did Jason understand exactly what he had said, and the worst part was that he didn’t find it in himself to regret it at all for it was nothing more than the truth. Given, no one knew it and Mari probably thought he was just very committed to their lie, but it felt good to say it regardless.

He got caught by surprise, however, as immediately after his declaration, Marinette was ripped away from his arms by the three girls who took her to the couches on the other side of the balcony gushing about God knows what. 

That was probably the worst he'd ever performed in any kind of game. 

Before he could protest, though, a laughing Dick passed him a glass with something that smelled quite like whiskey.

“Let them be, they’ll give her back soon enough. Now, why don’t you tell us how you ended up so smitten?”

A glance at the four women was enough to see them all already laughing and chatting amicably with each other, and Marinette looked like she was actually enjoying herself. He didn’t want to disturb whatever little moment they were having, so he had no choice but to give in and occupy the barstool in between his brothers.

They had decided to keep their story as close to the truth as they could in order to make it more difficult for either of them to have a slip up that could expose them, so they had finally settled on telling the real story about them being best friends… only in the story they actually ended up confessing to each other and dating.

Jason liked to believe the universe was somehow mocking him or something, but he forewent that detail while telling his brothers how he ended up dating his “girlfriend”. Both Dick and Tim were extremely happy to learn he had finally decided to settle down after his “playboy” reputation had been tailing him for the better part of the last 7 years.

“I still don’t understand why that’s still a thing. I mean, you did sleep around some years ago but it was for like, a year at most, right? And you were 18, it was...understandable?”

The questioning tone with which Dick finished speaking made the three of them break down in laughter as they reminisced about the times when Jason had made it his life mission to misbehave as much as he possibly could. Bruce thought ignoring his shenanigans would make him eventually stop, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. He only stopped once he found channeling all of his chaotic energy into his role as Red Hood was a lot more conducive to getting things done. 

“I’d rather not remember that. I’m still wondering why I decided it was a good idea.” 

“Who knows? Anyway, we have something more important to talk about.” Dick smirked. “You were giving Marinette some whipped looks back there, how did _that_ happen?”

Jason somehow knew they wouldn’t be happy with a half-assed answer, they would poke and prod until they got what they wanted, and since his brothers were some of the best detectives in the world their rummaging was sure to end up in unwanted revelations. 

Thus, instead of doing the smart thing and coming up with a real and believable answer, he decided to test his luck and play dumb.

“How did what happen?”

He really shouldn’t have been even the least surprised about the skeptical looks they both shot his way. Tim snorted and passed him another glass.

“Come on, are you going to make us beg for it?”

“Would it annoy you?”

“A whole lot.”

“Then yes please.”

Jason masked his triumphant smile under an innocent one as Tim sighed in defeat. Giving in and taking pity on their younger brother, Dick chimed into the conversation.

“What do you like about her? We’re not even going to ask if you like her because even a blind person could see you’re head over heels for her. So go on and tell us, what did she do to tame the _oh so great_ Jason Todd?”

“Flattery will take you nowhere, _Grayson_. But if you must know, she’s just… amazing.” 

If the softening of his voice wasn’t telling enough, the way his face automatically relaxed as a soft smile settled on his lips when he thought about what was that made Marinette great would’ve been even more of a giveaway. Dick had unknowingly unleashed something deep within him, giving him the freedom to talk about his best friend in a way he had never allowed himself to do before.

“Marinette is incredibly caring, always worrying and taking care of everyone before herself. She has such a generous soul but she takes no shit from anyone, myself included. There’s no way to get bored if she’s around, and her talent rivals that of the best fashion designers in the world. She even made our outfits for tonight.”

“No way! You made them?!”

Apparently, the girls had finished their little chat and had approached the bar without any of the Wayne sons noticing until then. The exclamation had come from Stephanie, who immediately turned back and started examining Marinette’s dress. Cass, however, seemed wary.

“Didn’t you say your dress was an original MDC?”

Jason looked in alarm towards Mari, not noticing in his panic that her cheeks were dusted pink from hearing his little speech earlier. He was under the impression she wanted people to recognize her work so she hadn’t planned to refer this dress to her alter ego but apparently, she had, and he had just exposed her.

“I- Um...Yeah, it is.”

Tim, being quick-witted as he was (and probably the best detective in the world), was the first to connect the dots. “MDC… Marinette Dupain-Cheng?! Oh God, I’m your biggest fan and I’ve tried to commission you for so long! Why didn’t you tell me before!?”

Though this last bit was indignantly directed at his older brother, it was Marinette who moved to stand next to Jason as if to shield him from Tim’s wrath and answered the question. “My secret identity as MDC is something highly valuable to me and I guard it very carefully so he was just following my wishes. I want to remain as anonymous as possible so, now that you know, if you could help me keep it I would gladly make a space for you, all of you, in my commission list.”

The way she had spoken (in her Ladybug voice) commanded respect, and not even one of the people present at the moment even thought about doing anything but what she had asked of them. They had only known her for a limited amount of time but were already pretty fond of the petite woman.

“You don’t need to do that. As far as we’re concerned, you’re now part of the family. And we would never betray our family, with or without reward.”

Dick managed to make Marinette relax, and she smiled at them before leaning into Jason’s side who was still silent next to her. A moment later, however, Tim raised his hand shyly while looking at her.

“Could I still get added to that commission list, please? I’ll pay you however much you want for an original piece.”

Everyone laughed at that, knowing him to be a really big fan of the designer, and how could Mari say no when the teenager looked so hopeful?

“Of course, Tim. You’ll get an MDC original, completely free of charge though. We’re family now after all, right?”

The happy squeal he let out looked out of place coming from someone who was supposed to be the CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world but it made everyone smile.

Jason, however, seemed to be a bit out of it, so Marinette excused them before leading him towards the balcony doors. Hoping to find a quiet place to talk, they wandered around the venue hand in hand until they found an isolated corridor near the kitchens where she finally faced him with worry in her eyes.

“Jay? Is everything okay?”

That seemed to bring him out of his stupor as he looked at her, the guilt clear in his eyes. “No, I’m so sorry Nette. I didn’t think-... I outed you in front of my family, I’m sorry.” 

He had expected her to be disappointed, angry, but he really should’ve known better. This was Marinette, the girl who could find the best in every person no matter how bad they were, and right now she was hugging him with all her might.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You couldn’t have known, you dummy. And it was actually a nice surprise that your brother seems to like my designs so much, I would love to make him something.”

“I’m sure he would appreciate it, he’s always rambling about your designs. I didn’t tell you because you were always so busy with your work I didn’t want you to feel like you had to fit something else in because he is my brother.”

Even though she really wanted to tell him off for thinking like that, she was also kind of...endeared? Jason thinking about her wellbeing was nothing new, what with the very large amount of times he had brought her food and coffee while she worked her ass off finishing commissions. 

However, it seemed like he was affecting her differently tonight, and his words made her blush once again. She had been doing that quite a lot this evening, hadn’t she?

“Penny for your thoughts, ma chérie?” 

Jason’s soft smile didn’t help her inner dilemma, and she couldn’t help but lean into the hand with which he had gently cupped her face, even if what she wanted was to run somewhere where his intoxicating presence couldn’t affect her as much. What was wrong with her?

He wasn’t doing much better inside his head either. So much Marinette, so much tenderness from her was melting him, and he would’ve given anything to make their lie real for at least a single moment.

They had only started to let themselves get lost in each other once again when they were yet again interrupted. But this time it wasn’t Damian or Stephanie or Tim. Marinette’s eyes darted in the direction of the ballroom.

“Were those-?”

Jason’s nod made a chill ran down her spine.

“Gunshots.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, folks! Hope you enjoyed it, and I'm sorry about that cliffhanger <3 You can come scream at me on Tumblr (@otpnessmess), I sometimes post updates about the story while I'm writing. Also, I love receiving asks, and if you have questions about the story I'll be happy to answer them! - Lis


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only positive thing about social distancing is that I have a lot of free time to pick up writing again so... have part three! I swear I didn't mean for this to be angsty, it just... happened. Hope you enjoy!

Old habits kicked in hard as Marinette slipped into Ladybug mode and turned to Jason with a determined look in her eyes he knew very well despite not having seen it for some time now. She sometimes showed an expression resembling it in her daily life, but it never quite felt the same as when she had first gone out on patrol with him. 

The young woman had renounced the Miraculous in favor of keeping them safe, but he could tell she sometimes missed the feeling of freedom they brought. So one night he dropped through her window in the middle of the night, way after the bats had ended their nightly rounds, and offered to take her out.

That was the first time they had soared together over the ceilings of Gotham and the sight of her bright smile only made it so Jason fell even harder for her. 

Their outings had to be few and far between, since Marinette refused to let the presence of the Miraculous be known, which meant they had to be extra careful before heading out. It became a thing they rarely got to share but, at the same time, it only made them relish it even more.

The man loved seeing her laughing happily while jumping from roof to roof, even if it distracted him a whole lot. He could still feel the ache in his bones from that one time he was too busy admiring her he didn’t see the chimney in front of him. Marinette loved teasing him about that...

"I’ll see if I can help get some people out while you go change Jay.”

All of his fantasizing was shattered by those words as he saw his best friend about to bolt towards danger. She would have left him there with no response had he not grabbed her hand in a desperate attempt to knock some sense into her. 

“Nette, wait. You don’t have a Miraculous and we don’t know what’s going on, how many people are there, or who even is attacking. I know you want to help but you should remain unseen, or just escape. We’ll handle it.”

He should’ve known his  _ belle _ wouldn’t listen to his pleads to remain out of danger’s way, that wouldn’t have been her. If there was someone that needed saving, she would do everything in her hand to help, and Jason could never ask her to ignore that part of herself. Still, he could at least try to convince her not to do anything utterly reckless to the best of his abilities.

The bluenette held in a sigh and was ready to start an argument they really shouldn’t be having in a moment like this. “Jay-”

“Marinette,  _ please _ . We’ll take care of this, there’s no need for you to endanger yourself more than necessary.” She still didn’t seem convinced enough and in a somewhat panicked effort to get through her he blurted out “What if it’s the Joker? I know you can handle yourself but I still worry. I don’t want to lose you.”

Her eyes softened at the pleading tone of his voice, and next thing Jason knew he was being squeezed to death in another hug. His arms instinctively held her close as if she would disappear if he let go, which he wasn’t sure wouldn’t actually happen.

"That's a bit hypocritical of you if we're being fair, isn't it? I have to see you put yourself on the line to fight crime all the time too.” That made the man feel slightly guilty and blush, she was right. Wasn’t she the one always left behind when he was called to a commotion, wondering whether he’d be back or not? 

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be complaining about it as much as trying to get him to ease his worries, her soft voice mumbling reassuring words while her hand didn’t seem to want to leave its place over his heart. 

“I'll be as careful as I can Jay, I promise to avoid unnecessary risks. Now let's go, we can't waste more time."

Giving him one last quick smile she then finally took off, leaving Jason to push his feelings to the back of his mind with a sigh, longing after her warmth. He didn’t allow himself to sulk, though, there were people in danger, and the fastest this was solved the earlier he could get home and watch movies in their pajamas with Mari.

Knowing the high number of rich and powerful people in attendance was very likely to attract some of Gotham's best-known villains like a moth to a flame, Bruce had adopted the habit of reserving a designated room in whatever venue he was organizing an event where the bats could safely change into superhero attire if there ever was a need. Jason would’ve liked to say they hadn’t had the need to use it that often but that was simply not true. Villain break-ins happened more often than not.

Having memorized the blueprints of the building as part of the protocol, he had no trouble finding his way to where his siblings were already getting ready. Barbara and Tim had set up an operations center earlier in the day so they could stay close to monitor the situation and were handing out the intercoms.

Jason immediately started changing while Dick tried to get input on what was happening on the lower floor. “What do we have on our hands this time?”

Tim, who had just put up the surveillance footage from the main hall cameras on the several monitors in front of him, was the one to answer. “The Penguin and about 20 other people stormed the hotel, all of them armed and if I had to say, probably here for the auction pieces. Around 200 civilians still remain inside, the rest managed to escape before they closed off all the entrances. The balcony and main doors are heavily guarded inside and out but there are still a couple of safe access points through the windows and ceiling. They shouldn’t spot you until it’s too late.”

By the time the report was finished everyone was ready to head into battle. Bruce established disarming the attackers as a priority but, should the opportunity show itself to allow more people to escape, they should focus on that. Quick last-minute directions were given before they were all off, knowing perfectly well every second wasted meant a higher chance of anyone getting hurt.

While this was happening, Marinette had barely managed to make it back to the ballroom doors. People were screaming and in such a haste to get as far from the chaos as possible they were shoving each other out of the way, which meant going in the opposite direction with a puffy gown proved to be incredibly hard. 

Once she reached the main entrance, though, the petite woman came to a halt before hiding behind a wall. It had been blocked and a minion stood before it with a rifle in his hands. Just great. She doubted she could get inside without being spotted now, and that made her feel utterly useless.

Despite knowing his friend and his family would be here soon to make quick work of the situation, the urge to help people had been embedded deep within her after so many years battling Hawkmoth and wielding a Miraculous, and she despised having to watch from the sidelines.

Unfortunately, as if some kind of higher power had heard her thoughts, she got pulled out of them by a very loud yelp some meters away from her. The guard had spotted a couple coming back from one of the many minor hallways of the hotel, seemingly oblivious to the transpiring events. His gun was now pointed at them and the man had a wicked grin in his face.

“Oh my my my, what have we got here? Get inside!”

He moved towards them with every intent to push them inside the room, more hostages to be used to bargain with the vigilantes. What he didn’t expect, however, was that turning his back to Marinette’s hiding spot would give her an opening to grab a nearby vase and crack it on his head from behind, knocking him out.

The scared couple thanked her in a rush as she directed them towards the hotel doors, urging them to run. She was relieved they listened since a moment later another minion that heard the commotion had approached her with a rage-filled scream when he saw his partner bleeding on the floor.

Marinette’s training was still useful even if she wasn’t transformed and helped her evade the attacks that were being directed at her body. The man had forgone his gun in favor of trying to mess her up with a deadly-looking knife, thinking she would be somewhat of an easy target.

Fighting unarmed against an armed opponent, especially while wearing a dress and heels, was bound to go wrong though. He managed to land a couple of hits on her in her arms and shoulder, the stinging and extra weight of her dress starting to make her falter. However, before he could take advantage of this and land a deadly blow, Red Hood had already punched him so hard his body landed on the floor, unmoving.

“Worry not Princess, your knight in shining leather is here to save the day!”

Always a lover of the dramatic, Jason bowed with a chuckle before being shoved by Marinette behind the same wall she was hiding earlier, the bullet grazing him on the side.

“Careful!”

More and more attackers were approaching from their positions guarding the entrances because of the ruckus, and they didn’t seem keen in being merciful to the duo. Her mind was running at a thousand miles per hour, coming up with plans to get them both out of this in the easiest way and with the least amount of injuries possible.

Jason, though, didn’t give her the chance to ponder this for long before he reached to cup her face, told her to run, and jumped in to square up against all the goons by himself, trying to give her an easy escape route. Truth be told, he would have probably been able to take on those guys enough for one of his siblings to show up and help him out. She did hear him call for help into his intercom after all.

But she also saw how at the minimum display of struggle a guy landed a shot to his head that, even if it merely cracked his helmet, had Marinette’s heart racing and her throat tightening. This was still her best friend in that suit, and she’d be damned if she would play bystander while he was endangering himself. 

Utilizing the shadows as cover, she hurried to pick up the guns and knife from the fallen men near her and gulped at the implications of it. It weighed in her hand and mind, what she was about to do. However, she didn’t allow herself to dwell on it. Those men could live without a hand, or a foot, but she could never imagine a life without Jason.

Thanking the heavens that she had accepted his offer to teach her how to shoot, the bluenette first went for the ones on the sidelines holding the guns. The sound of the weapon going off was deafening in her ears, her arms were bloody and her hands were sweaty, but steady.

Five shots were all she needed before the only noises left were the ones coming from the men brawling. It seemed that the sounds of gunshots were enough to attract their attention to her, making one of them point his own weapon at her. 

Paralyzed in place, Marinette witnessed Red Hood knocking out the two men holding him back before going for the one focusing on her. She was extremely relieved seeing the last threat come down crumbling to the floor as Jason breathed heavily standing in the middle of the mess.

Marinette wanted to rush to his side and see for herself if he was okay, but as she tried to move she started to feel just how heavy her limbs were. Drowning in the sound of her blood in her ears, her head felt light and dizzy. 

Looking down, she wondered when she had added sleeves to her dress, her entire arms coated in a beautiful crimson. Her eyes then glazed over the bullet wound on her shoulder, wondering how she hadn’t noticed it yet, before turning to Jason.

If Marinette tried really hard, she could hear him calling for her in agony. He was going to be so mad at her for not turning tail when he told her to. She hoped he could forgive her.

The image of her best friend running to her and catching her before her body could hit the floor was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading! And if you wish to come scream at me about the ending, ask about the fic or just ask me to write a prompt, you can find me on Tumblr (@otpnessmess). Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Your bi-monthly update of this fanfic sjsdkdsjsk I am a terrible author, but I hope you guys still enjoy my writing as scarce as it sometimes is. This isn't really beta'd, I just had a rough day and wanted to put this out ASAP, hope you enjoy nonetheless! - Lis

Back on the east wing of the hotel, everything had been going according to plan so far. The vigilantes had appointed themselves on every access point available to the ballroom, hiding and ready to storm in as soon as Bruce gave them the green light.

However, Jason felt uneasy for some unknown reason as he stood next to a service door that had been left unguarded, allowing him to peek inside the ballroom. His gut feeling was telling him there was something wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. There was no reason for him to suspect they were going to fail this mission, they knew how to deal with this kind of situations, and had done so successfully before. The only different thing this time was-

His eyes widened in alarm as he scanned the crowd inside the room.

Marinette wasn’t there. Her dress should've been easy enough to spot, but it was nowhere to be seen, which meant she hadn’t made it inside before they closed off the doors.

Relief flooded him for too short of a moment before he heard a commotion to his left. One of the makeshift guards he had sneaked by on his way here, and who had been walking up and down the quiet hallway seemed to have heard it too as Jason saw him grip the weapon in his hands and cautiously go towards the noise.

Normally, he would deal with that after they carried out the main plan and arrested the villain since quarrels between criminals were not uncommon and it would help to keep them distracted, but his brain seemed reluctant to let it go this time. So he gave chase to him, though not before warning his family of his absence during the fight.

The shadows gladly welcomed him as he stealthily followed the Penguin’s puppet. The man had had a bit of a headstart but it wasn’t hard to use the loud noises coming from the adjacent hall to guide himself.

Once he found him, his heart stopped for a moment as he saw red, in every sense of the word. A man he didn’t recognize had already been knocked out, and the one Jason had been tailing was brandishing a knife in an attempt to put Marinette down, her dress having been slashed several times already in the struggle. She seemed to be putting up quite the fight, but he could pick up the signs of exhaustion and tension on her shoulders even from where he was standing several meters away.

Jason had arrived just in time to see the man finally succeed in hurting Marinette, seeing a large gash appear along her bicep, where other cuts had already started bleeding out. Hearing her yelp in pain was the last straw to letting rage take over his actions. He approached them in the blink of an eye and landed his knuckles on the attacker’s face with a nice-sounding crack, making the guy topple over unconscious.

“Worry not Princess, your knight in shining leather is here to save the day!”

Before he could stand right and look at her, though, he was shoved out of the way by a frantic Mari. The bullet that almost hit him made a hole on the opposite wall to the one they were now resting against, and he cursed his idiocy and natural tendency to act like a goof around his best friend. This was no time for distractions.

Taking a peek around the wall, Jason saw several other armed men approaching their hiding spot, which meant he had to act quickly if he wanted to get Marinette safely out of the mess they were currently into. He mentally did the math and decided he could call for backup and take on them all alone until one of his siblings came to help, buying them enough time for Marinette to get out of the building unseen.

Speaking of, a quick look at his best friend let him know she seemed pretty out of it and the cuts that covered her skin made him all the more adamant to go fight those idiots that had hurt his lovely flower. Jason hadn’t lost most of his cool yet, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t slightly worried about having dragged Marinette to this gala and having it end this way. So in a rushed decision, he grabbed her face gently but firmly in his hands to get the woman to look at him before kissing her forehead **,** trying to convey his feelings in a hurry.

“Run and get out of here as quickly as you can, Nette. I’ll hold them off.”

Another round of bullets hit the wall, giving him no time to check if the words had registered with her before he jumped in and started punching people left and right. Unfortunately, they outnumbered him by quite the amount so the vigilante soon found himself buried under at least four of them. 

He tried his hardest to shake them off but what these men lacked in brains they compensated for with strength, making it a very difficult task. On top of that, Red Hood was so used to the sound of gunshots he only noticed the several people shooting at him when a bullet ricocheted off his helmet, making him wince.

‘Bunch of idiots will end up killing their own. Where the fuck is my backup?’

His cocky attitude helped him confidently approach dire situations while in the mask, but it was of no help at that moment as he felt his muscles get fatigued under the weight of several people holding onto him. Another shot got him on the back of the head, making the sound reverberate in his ears. His vision blurred as his head kept being pounded on. He was on the verge of giving up before one of the minions got off of him out of nowhere and rushed off his field of vision.

Jason didn’t question their motives, using the momentaneous confusion of their partners to turn against the remaining two guys and knock them out with his remaining energy. He quickly scanned his surrounding and it took him a second to notice those that had been taking aim at him sprawled on the floor, wailing in pain, before a gasp made him regain focus.

He then saw what had attracted the attention of the guy from before, and it made the blood in his veins run cold. There at the end of the hall, a bloodied Marinette with a pistol in her trembling hands was being approached by an armed idiot with a manic smile and less than nice intentions if Jason had to guess.

Faster than he would’ve given himself credit for, Red Hood had already thrown a knife to their back before tackling them to the ground with a thud, finally bringing an end to the stupidly long fight. His victory and sense of relief were short-lived, however, because as he stood and turned to look at Marinette, panic settled on his chest once again. 

He followed her gaze down to her shoulder where a very obvious bullet wound only added to the myriad of cuts and injuries she already had on her. “Nette! Marinette!” Jason’s voice felt foreign to his own ears as he rushed to catch the woman before her body could hit the ground, his screams and pleads of her name cascading from his lips in desperation. 

A thud was heard next to them as Nightwing chose that exact moment to arrive and sucked in a breath at the scene in front of him. His lovely new sister in law bleeding in the arms of his brother who was mumbling to her frantically. Jason didn’t seem in the state to be able to talk to him but he had to at least try and pry out information to know better how to help.

“Hood, what happened? We need to get her help and there are paramedics outside and if we hurry there are more chances she’ll recover. Red Hood!” Not getting a response, Dick decided to take matters into his own hands and picked Marinette’s body from Jason’s arms with little resistance from the latter before running towards the exit. In his haste, he almost ran into Red Robin who was walking in the opposite direction and seemed really glad to see him, up until he saw what had his brother in such a hurry.

“What-”

“There’s no time to explain, I need you to check in on Hood, he’s on the next hall at your left. Please prevent him from doing anything stupid, I’ll be back.”

With that, Richard started running once again through the empty halls of the hotel, thinking back to some minutes ago. The storming of the main ballroom had gone smoothly as planned and it hadn't been that difficult to round up the criminals even without Jason there to help, and fortunately, very few people had been injured, none of them fatally so. 

They had been in the process of fighting when they heard Jason ask for backup, which explained why Dick had only been able to answer once they were able to make sure all of the thugs had been taken down and neutralized. He regretted not hurrying to his brother’s aid faster after seeing what had happened.

When he finally reached the street he couldn’t help but be thankful for how much emergency services in Gotham had improved tenfold in the last years. Given how likely dangerous situations were to happen, emergency providers were now more prepared than ever and had an astoundingly quick responding time, sometimes getting there before the vigilantes. This meant several ambulances were already parked in front of the hotel waiting to help those injured in the crossfire when he got there.

“Nightwing!” 

As he stepped closer to the crowd, he turned his head to see Stephanie running up to him, a worried expression taking over her face as she saw just who it was he was carrying. “Marinette! No, oh no… What happened? Where’s-” 

Jason. She cut herself short before making a misstep but still looked questioningly at him before turning once more to the injured girl Dick had just handed over to the workers from emergency services. He saw the paramedics carefully start to work on stopping the bleeding from her cuts before turning to the blonde girl and leaning to avoid being heard. “Inside, I’ll make sure there are no stragglers and get him out of there but-”

The look he gave her was telling enough, someone had to go with Marinette so they would know how she was faring, and to ensure Jason didn’t murder them if someone happened to their soon-to-be-sister-in-law. Stephanie nodded and was already sitting next to Marinette the next second, right before they closed the doors to take the girl to the hospital, which left Dick free to dive inside the building once more to find his brothers.

The last thing the oldest Wayne expected to see when he went back to where he had left them originally was Tim and Jason having a screaming match while the younger boy pinned the other under him in a demonstration of strength Dick never knew he had. Once he was closer he could better make out what it was the older was yelling while he struggled against his little brother’s hold. 

“No! That’s bullshit Red and you know it! Let me go, for fuck’s sake you-” Jason’s eyes lit up with a fiery intensity as he spotted Dick approaching them. “Wing! Where is she? Is she- Is she okay?”

Nightwing supposed his face had been quite telling as Red Hood seemed to lose all the fire and fury in him as he let his head drop on the floor. He stopped struggling and simply clawed at his shattered helmet in what Dick could only guess was helplessness. Glancing at Tim, they both silently agreed to let Jason take however long he needed to get it together as Red Robin got up from where he was pinning him to the ground. 

This made Jason slowly sit down, an aura of despair clinging to him that made Nightwing’s chest ache at seeing his usually very over the top brother in this state. His knowledge of the situation was very scarce but he knew how to do damage control, and reassuring Red Hood that his girlfriend was fine was his priority since he’d rather not have him give chase to an ambulance because they left him in the dark.

“She was still unconscious and bleeding when they got her on the ambulance but she was breathing, so don’t panic yet. Stephanie is with her right now, she’ll let us know if anything comes up.” He wasn’t sure that had been enough to settle Jason’s worry so he decided for once he could bypass the hierarchy where every team order had to be approved by Batman before being executed and go a step further to help his little brother out. “You’re exempt from the rest of your duties for tonight, I’m positive we can handle it and you need to be with her right now, more for your sake than hers I’d say. I’ll deal with B later, so just go. Though you might want to take a shower in your apartment before showing up at the hospital, I doubt they’d let you in there like this.”

Despite his face being hidden behind a fractured mask, Dick could tell Jason was relieved and thankful for his words. Truth be told, the quick hug he got from the usually rough Red Hood was very telling of how badly the events of the evening had affected him, and it caught him off guard. The eldest brother heard Tim chuckle next to them and mumble something about how this had been by far the weirdest thing that had happened yet. However, he also heard the whispered “thank you” from Jason before he pulled away, which he couldn’t help but smile at.

“No problem, I know I would’ve been out of my skin wanting to go after Kor’i had it been her so… go, we’ll cover for you. But be sure to tell us if anything comes up, we can be there immediately after we tie all the loose ends here, and please don’t do anything reckless.”

Jason barely let him finish the sentence before he was bolting out of the building and swinging from building to building in a rush to reach his apartment, not feeling confident enough to be able to drive in his current state. He could always pick up his car the next day after he was sure Marinette was safe and sound.

Marinette.

A chill ran down his spine when he thought what could’ve happened had he not decided to follow his gut and stayed with his family. Marinette would probably be dead or even worse than she was right now. Jason gulped as he entered his apartment through the window, images of his loved friend bleeding out as he got there a second too late, her attacker laughing over her body sprawled out on the floor invading his mind as if he had inhaled Scarecrow’s fear toxin.

No. Marinette was okay, she was in the hospital and would be fine soon enough. The tiny woman was stubborn and determined enough to wear down even the Grim Reaper, and wouldn’t go down without a fight if he knew her. The thought of the fierce French girl arguing with death itself made him chuckle and he figured he might as well have already gone off the deep end if this is what he was doing instead of hurrying to her side.

A quick shower to wash off the blood and sweat later, he hailed a taxi to drive him to the hospital. He also hurried to call Stephanie while nervously bouncing his leg as he waited for her to pick up. Once she did, questions came tumbling out of his mouth nonstop until his sister shushed him with a chuckle.

“You know, I never thought I’d see the day you’d be like this for someone. It’s adorable.”

“Steph-”

“Sorry, sorry, I know you’re probably dying of worry. She’s alright, or as well as one could be after all she went through. Thankfully the bullet didn’t hit anything too important, and they said she won’t lose feeling in the area. Her other injuries are mild, some cuts and bruises but she did lose a lot of blood. They’ll give her a transfusion to fix that and said that other than some scars she’ll be good as new in a couple of days.”

Jason felt himself relax after what felt like hours and leaned back closing his eyes while they chatted. He thanked her as she said she’d wait for him downstairs before hanging up and rubbing the worry from his face. He knew Marinette was very likely to be okay and get better, but the confirmation from Steph blew away any lingering doubts he could have had and made him feel a bit embarrassed about his earlier reaction.

Yes, it might have been a little over the top but, in his defense, when you see the love of your life fighting for her own against people you know wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her and call it collateral damage, every ounce of rationality flies out the window and the only thing left is the urge to protect, and he couldn’t help but feel he had failed her in that regard. 

In retrospect, had it not been for Marinette he would’ve probably ended up in a messy situation himself as well. She must have been the one to shoot the rest of the guys down as he struggled, helping him get free of their clutches, and had been shot because of that. That girl could sometimes be even more reckless than him, Miraculous or not, and he wanted nothing more than to beg her to keep away from danger which, considering the city they lived in, was just impossible. This reflection left him torn between feeling proud that she had been able to take them down with what he had taught her and wanting to scold her for not turning tail when he gave her the chance to.

Jason got off the taxi once having arrived at the hospital and decided that as much as he hated the dangerous situation she had put herself into, things could’ve been much deadlier without her intervention, and he now owed her for that. She chose not to flee and risked her life to protect him, and just the thought of it made his heart do a backflip and threaten to burst out of his chest. He allowed himself to smile for a moment thinking of his best friend. God, he loved her so much.

He then spotted Stephanie waiting for him in the reception and approached her, immediately getting an armful of his blonde sister once he was close enough for her to see him too. For the second time that night, he let himself rejoice in hugging one of his siblings and knowing that they had his back and cared about Marinette too, fake girlfriend or not. The black haired man knew they had all fallen for her charm just like he had done long time ago, and were probably just as worried as him about her wellbeing.

Since only one person at a time could be in the room with Mari outside visiting hours, after another briefing and telling him which room his “girlfriend” was in, Stephanie left for the mansion with a promise to let everyone know Marinette’s state and to come keep him company in the morning. Jason then went searching for the correct door but stood for a moment outside once he found the one, looking for the courage to step in. 

He had seen pretty gruesome scenes before, but something about Marinette’s state earlier unsettled him. Whether it was the jarring contrast between her beautiful dress earlier and the bunch of shreds coated in blood it had become, or how she seemed out of herself during the whole ordeal, far from the Ladybug he had come to know.

That was unfair. She didn’t have her miraculous with her, she had reacted as one would expect an actual civilian would, and he could never fault her for that. Becoming desensitized to the gruesome reality of villains’ attacks was sometimes counterproductive. 

He found himself rambling inside his head in such a typical Marinette style he snorted amused with himself before finding the resolve to cross the door and look towards the bed his friend was lying on.

Steph had told him she arranged for Marinette to get a private room and some commodities, even if she was going to stay only for a day or two, taking for a fact that their family would want to come visit her and would want some privacy, and he couldn’t be more thankful for that as he got time by himself while waiting for her to wake up. 

Minutes passed as he let his eyes roam her sleeping figure, spotting some bruises blooming on her cheekbone and hands, as well as letting him admire the peaceful expression she had on, unaware of the world. His observations only got him to conclude that even under all the bandages and hooked to a bunch of machines as she was, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was still the most beautiful person he had ever laid his eyes upon.

The bluenette looked tinier than normal in her current state, the bed and blankets swallowing her in and making Jason feel even worse for putting her through this hell of a night. He silently vowed to make it up to her however he had to. In an impulse, Jason took her hand in his, gently kissing her knuckles. It helped a great deal in winding him down and letting him further relax in the fairly uncomfortable chair he was sitting on.

The following hours dragged by slowly, with nurses coming in every hour or so to check in on her vitals as Jason kept being forced awake by images of the earlier events burning in the back of his eyelids every time he tried closing his eyes. Eventually, he simply gave up on trying to sleep and focused on the hand he was holding, as well as the beeping monitor that reassured him his best friend was still here with him. It was probably around 7 when exhaustion finally overtook him as he fell into a dreamless sleep with his head next to Marinette’s arm, her hand still firmly grasped in his, with only the sound of chirping birds and the beeping of a heart monitor to keep them company for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for today folks! If you find any grammatical errors you can tell me and I'll fix them, and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did while writing it.  
> As always, my Tumblr is @otpnessmess if you wish to come yell at me or ask me about anything, feel free to drop by!  
> Much love <3  
> \- Lis


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever but here I am! Back with a chapter! I've been writing the whole day because I wanted to deliver this ASAP so if there are any mistakes I apologize. Thank you to everyone that still comments on this from time to time, you make me actually want to continue the story even if it's slow. Though I hope to take slightly less time to upload the next chapter! Thank you for reading, and I hope you're staying safe <3  
> \- Lis

The voices were the first thing she could pick up on, faint traces of conversations floating up to her ears and gently luring her out of her sleepy state. Marinette tried to discern whose voices they were, not succeeding at first, as what sounded like a man and a woman were speaking somewhere in the vicinity. They sounded vaguely familiar but her blurry mind couldn’t figure out where from.

Whoever it was, they carried on their conversation that was getting louder by the second, with one voice growing more and more agitated until they were interrupted by another one with a deeper and soothing tone. The french girl still wasn’t sure where she was, but she felt relief wash over her as that was a voice she would recognize absolutely anywhere. 

Jason. 

The urge to reach out to him was too strong, but no matter how hard she tried her body felt like she had a fridge sitting on top of it. Slowly coming back to her senses, the first thing she felt was the pain in her shoulder and chest, her ribs felt like they were poking holes in her lungs and preventing her from breathing properly.

The voices cleared out as she could still hear Jason speaking, finally helping her recognize the other two: Dick and Stephanie. Jason’s siblings.

The gala.

Memories rushed to her all at once, leaving her head pounding even more than before as she finally recalled the events of the previous night. The attack, rushing to help, and Jason and her battling it out with those men. The blood, the injuries, the sound of bullets, and the weight of a gun.

As Mari started becoming more aware of her surroundings, she felt a weight on her arm. A warm hand was slotted into hers and its owner was making circular motions on the back of it with their thumb that helped comfort her. She had a pretty good guess of who it might be. She was proven right when Jason’s voice got closer and she heard the scraping of a chair against the floor very close to her left side. Marinette would’ve laughed had she been able to, because him being there meant he was okay, and probably pissed at her, but he was okay and alive, and that was enough for her.

“Steph is right, there’s no way you could’ve prevented this Dickie. You were just doing what you had to, like everyone else, and you could say I was the irresponsible one for leaving my place. I’m glad I did, though, but If anyone could’ve done something to prevent this it was me. I should’ve made sure she was out of the building before I joined you, I trusted she would not put herself in too much danger.” A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as his grip o her hand slightly tightened. “Then I found her trying to fend off that maniac.”

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask what happened, I didn’t get the chance yesterday before I let you go and I didn’t think to ask Tim to review the footage. I went straight to bed last night and didn’t see him this morning.”

“When I saw them fighting I ran as fast as I could and took him out but by then she was already hurt. After that I almost get myself killed for being an idiot and a lot more of them came onto us, so I told her to run and tried to hold them off. I never would’ve thought she’d follow me. It was so fucking reckless and stupid...”

His growl was punctuated by the feel of his cheek against her knuckles. The worry Marinette could sense seeping through the cracks of his frustration gave her the last needed bit of strength to slowly open her eyes and turn her head slightly towards her left.

“Yet I would do it again.”

Mari didn’t get the chance to worry about the raspiness of her voice or the pain that coursed through her when she tried to move before Jason’s head snapped towards her. Time froze for a second as the tiny woman got a closer look at the dark bags under his bloodshot eyes, purple bruises scattered under the collar of his shirt, and bandages enveloping the hand that still hadn’t let go of hers. He looked like he hadn’t got a wink of sleep the entire night, which was probably true.

“Marinette!”

Dick’s exclamation got Jason to finally react, and even though he had spent the majority of the night thinking what exactly he’d said to Mari once she woke up, the anger, frustration, and worry all went out the window at that moment, rendering him speechless. He could only bring himself to lean towards Marinette and wrap his arms around her, minding her injuries but with a hold strong enough to make sure she was really there with him. 

She had about ten seconds to enjoy this before Jason pulled away and held her by the shoulders, seemingly searching for words. He didn’t get to find them, however, since the nurse had chosen that moment to come check on Marinette, and was very pleased to find her awake.

The rest of the day went by in a blur of nurses, tests, and questions to make sure she would be able to be discharged safely. She also got some visits which, together with everything else, meant she had had virtually no opportunities to speak to her best friend in private, always being interrupted before either could try to start a conversation.

By the time the doctor had given her permission to go home, Marinette had been plotting to escape on her own for about three hours. She hated hospitals with a passion, too many bad memories from her Ladybug days swarmed her whenever she was inside one, so she had taken to avoid them as much as possible. 

It wasn’t so much because she’d had to stay in them because of her own injuries, but for the particular occasions in which the fights had been long and hard, causing so much damage to the city and its citizens that her cure wasn’t able to override it 100%. Those were the times where she would be up hours on end as Marinette, just helping carry supplies and treating the injured. The ladybugs took care of the worst, but even then, extra hands were appreciated to get the city back to normal as quickly as possible.

She had never had someone die because of an Akuma attack after using the cure, but it didn’t mean the aftermath was that much more pleasant.

It was now early evening and the room she had been staying in had already been emptied of all the flowers and presents the Wayne family had filled it with during their earlier visit. Meaning Jason was grumbling under his breath while carrying the last of it to his car with Dick’s help.

“I told them not to swarm her because she needed rest, but did they listen to me? Of course not! Sometimes I wonder why I even open my mouth.”

His older brother couldn’t help but snort audibly at that, earning him a murderous glare that was thankfully hidden behind some pink lilies Jon made Damian buy for his new sister-in-law. “I wonder that very often as well, glad to know it’s mutual. But seriously, you knew everyone was incredibly worried about her, Babs was dying to see her after what happened last night and Tim would rather give up coffee for a week than admit he was concerned with how you reacted to her state but I know for a fact he was.”

If this information affected Jason in any way he didn’t show it and just started loading the presents on the backseat with as much care as he could muster. “At least Bruce stayed away, she didn’t need to stress over meeting him while in a hospital bed when she was already nervous enough yesterday. Tell him I’ll be over in the morning to give him whatever explanations he needs from me but tonight I’m going back with her to make sure she’s okay.”

“I doubt he expected you to show up to patrol even if he had tried to make it an explicit order, and it’s highly unlikely any of us would have backed him if he had wanted to. Well, maybe except for Damian.”

Jason was saved from having to acknowledge that with an answer by the arrival of Mari and Steph arm in arm merrily chatting, and almost melted seeing the beam his best friend directed his way when she spotted them.

When they finally reached the car Marinette seemed eager to leave so they made quick work of their goodbyes, and she promised to message Steph to let her know how she was feeling later.

It had been a long day and she was exhausted, but also very much impatient to have Jason to herself. He had barely spoken to her, and she guessed it had been because they hadn’t exactly been left alone long enough. 

She expected him to be mad at her and trusted herself to be able to manage him. They had fought before, and an angry Jason was something she knew how to deal with. Too bad she wasn’t prepared for whatever  _ this _ was. 

Not even once in the car ride to her apartment did Jason speak or look at her. 

He wasn’t known for being the most extroverted man in the entire universe, but he had always been more open around her, especially if they were alone. It was something Mari liked to take pride in. She got Jason to discuss things with her he wouldn’t with just anyone, which made his withdrawal that much more worrisome.

Her street was deserted at that time of night, and just as silent as the man helping her up the stairs. Even if she attributed his attitude to her actions, she shouldn’t have been surprised his hands on her elbow and back were still as gentle as ever.

As Jason guided her to sit on the couch, she thanked her past self for tidying up the place before leaving before the gala, remembering how much of a pain that could’ve been if she’d had to walk around with pieces of fabric and pins everywhere.

She caught herself thinking about menial things such as this to distract herself from the fact that she was scared to break the deafening silence that reigned between them. Turning around she could see Jason leaning on the kitchen counter with his back to her, head hanging low, and it made her want to hug him and apologize and promise to never do such a thing again even more.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng what the actual fuck were you thinking.”

Despite the harsh words, the whisper didn’t really affect her since she was expecting something of the sort. Jason turning around and looking at her with misty eyes that she could see from where she was seated though... 

“Oh, Jay…”

Seeing her intentions of standing up he hurried to her side and sat next to her, only to be pulled into a hug by a pair of tiny arms. Marinette couldn’t bring herself to care about her aching shoulder when she could feel her hair getting wet where Jason had burrowed his face in it. 

Memories of the fear and worry that plagued her whenever Chat Noir got hurt protecting her flashed before her eyes, reminding her how some years ago it had been her in Jason’s position and how much she hated it.

The feeling of Jason pulling away made her look up, and she noticed their faces were extremely close. She wished she hadn’t though, because this way she was able to see his red eyes and the trails the tears had left on his cheeks. The look of adoration in them, however, took her by surprise.

“Please don’t ever do something like that again, Nette. I have no idea what I would do if I ever lost you, especially if it was my fault. I’m sorry I was harsh earlier, I’m not mad at you- Well, yes I am but-” he sighed seemingly frustrated with himself. “You saved me last night, but you got hurt because of it, and I… I was scared, Mari.”

Even when she liked to think she knew Jason so well he couldn’t really surprise her anymore, she was proven wrong once again because she didn’t remember a moment in which he had looked quite so vulnerable as then. Marinette’s throat closed up as a hurricane of emotions filled and overwhelmed her, making her eyes tear up in response.

Heartbroken was a very apt description of how she was feeling.

Normally, she would have stood by her decision of helping him, but her brain reminded her the reason he had been in danger in the first place had been because she picked a fight to help someone else. Would he still be grateful if he knew that? Probably, it was Jason, but she blamed herself regardless.

Her best friend was like this because of her, and the little voice inside her that liked to bring up her flaws was having a feast, whispering in her ear how she seemed to always end up hurting those she cared about after all.

Marinette couldn’t take it anymore and the tears finally started spilling from her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Jason once more and buried her face in his chest, the sound of her heartbeat thrumming in her ears but now also mixing with his. 

“I’m sorry Jay, I’m so sorry” she whispered. 

Minutes passed by and the hand carding through her hair, coupled with the warmth she felt in his embrace finally helped Marinette calm down enough to pull away and rub her eyes with the heels of her hands. 

“How do you feel about making some popcorn and ordering pizza? You said you wanted to watch that new Netflix movie, right?” Jason’s voice made her snap her head towards him, and the smile on his face was such a contrast to his earlier expression that she confusedly blinked at him for a couple of seconds.

“Uhm… oh- Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did…”

They had always been the touchy type of friends, cuddling on the couch and being handsy were an everyday thing between them, which is why Marinette didn’t understand why she got so flustered when Jason started playing with a stray strand of her hair while waiting for an answer. She quickly decided that was something to deal with later and nodded with a small smile. “Popcorn and pizza sound great, you want help?”

“Worry not, I can handle it. Besides you still need to rest, you’re only here because I know you would have gone mad if they had wanted to keep you in the hospital.” That said, he got up and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Choose what you want to watch and I’ll be back in a second.”

As she browsed through the available movies, she could hear Jason walking around the kitchen and figured she might as well go wash her face while he got the food. Her body complained slightly when she got up but she made it to the bathroom without further incident, that is, until she actually saw her reflection in the mirror. Her face was nothing short of a disaster. 

Thankfully Stephanie had helped her wipe off all the makeup earlier. Marinette didn’t even want to think how she’d have looked with that on after all the crying. Regardless, she still felt like she was looking at a different person, what with the purple and blue on her cheeks, and the red on her eyes. Hopefully, it wouldn’t last that long.

“Bug?”

Jason was calling her name which meant the popcorn was probably ready, so she yelled a quick “Coming!” and washed her face before leaving the bathroom. Only to crash against a chuckling Jason.

“Careful there. I was gonna ask if you wanted to change into something more comfortable and get a couple of blankets.” His fingers found her hair yet again and it made her cheeks burn for some reason. She didn’t understand why she was so reactive to his touch now, but she also started to wonder whether he actually noticed he kept doing it.

“S-sure! I can do it myself, I’ll be there in a minute!”

Mari hurried inside her room, closing the door right after, and went to find her pajamas before she could think too much about that interaction. Jason’s touch had never made her uncomfortable or annoyed, and she was pretty sure that’s not what was happening right now. Then what was it that had her so on edge?

It took her a couple of minutes to change clothes, which was faster than she expected with her mummified arm considerably slowing her down. And if she brushed her hair and sat idle on her bed for a little while before going back to the living-room, nobody had to know. She had no reason to be nervous around Jason, and she wasn't about to make him uncomfortable just because she didn't understand herself. 

That's how less than ten minutes later, a movie was playing on the tv while the bowl of popcorn slowly emptied. Marinette had successfully shunned the awkwardness and was happy to sit with her back to Jason’s chest as they laughed at whatever was happening to the characters. 

After the wild 48 hours they had just gone through, it felt incredibly nice to be back to normal (or as normal as it could be). They were just two friends enjoying their usual movie night and each other's company. 

Jason kept making comments that had Mari choking on her popcorn while trying to laugh, and grinned when she tried to smack him in retaliation. Not one to be left behind, she liked to move the bowl of popcorn away every time he reached for it, and gave it away only in exchange of an apology for distracting her from the movie. 

An hour passed, then two. With the popcorn gone and the tv now playing a different movie, they moved onto the pizza. It didn’t take long for that to be gone as well, and by then the two had grown so tired they had shifted around and were laying down on the couch.

Jason was propped against the armrest as Marinette lay against his chest with her eyes closed, not yet asleep but her soft breaths gave away that she was almost there. 

“Should we put you to bed little lady?” The only response Jason got was Mari’s arms hooked around his neck tighter and a grumble, making him smile. “Alright, alright. Let's go."

Taking care not to jostle her shoulder too much, he carried Marinette in his arms like so many times before and let her down on the bed, glad that she was already in her pajamas. 

He was never one to pass on the opportunity to admire Marinette’s beauty and she looked adorable with her hair all mussed and her cheek squished against the pillow. Seeing her resting and safe made him finally relax.

Tucking her in, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and moved to leave but Mari’s hand on his wrist stopped him. A half-opened blue eye peered up at him from under the covers as she gently tugged on his arm. “Please stay… You can make sure I don’t go anywhere I’m not supposed to.”

And how could Jason even think about saying no to that when his heart almost burst out of his chest because of her request. It’s not like they had never shared a bed before, but the way she had asked after all that went down tugged on his heartstrings differently. 

He had to laugh at himself for that cheesy thought, making Mari raise an eyebrow at him questioningly. Shaking his head in response, he quickly stripped down to his shirt and slid under the covers with her.

Not a second later Marinette was clinging to his side using his chest as a pillow, her injured arm sitting on top of his stomach, and her legs tangled with his. "Thank you Jay."

"It's nothing, Nette. Anything for you." 

"You better, after all I went through just for being your date." Her whisper wasn't lost on Jason, whose chuckling turned into laughter when he saw the face Mari made after noticing he had heard her. "I-! I mean… "

Her cheeks were beet red, only making her look more endearing, and, in Jason's eyes, easier to tease. 

"Aw, you're so mean Bug. Here I am, doing my best to take care of you and that's how you pay me?".

"Oh, shut up."

She was now snickering too as he ruffled her hair playfully. They kept whispering back and forth for a while, until the yawns became too prevalent in the conversation. 

They said their goodnights when it was painfully obvious they were only awake due to sheer force of will, and when Marinette finally cuddled closer to his chest and fell asleep, Jason was left to deal with his thoughts. 

It wasn't necessarily something bad, but he was still thinking how it was kind of sad that the previous night had ended as it did.

It had been the one night where he got to pretend Marinette was really his, and it felt  _ right _ somehow. He also couldn’t stop thinking about that moment they got to themselves before the chaos had started, how badly he had wanted to kiss her when she helped calm him down and looked at him with those mesmerizing eyes or hers. 

He wondered whether she would have let him kiss her. Or would she have pushed him away? She would've been gentle about it, no doubt, it was Marinette after all. But the thought of tainting his relationship with his favorite person in the world for something like that… 

No matter how tantalizing it might be, the thought was impossible to bear, and he'd rather not mull it over too much. He doubted the universe was willing to be so nice to him. 

Closing his eyes, exhaustion finally overtook him, the hand he had been running through Mari’s hair stilling as he succumbed to dreamless slumber. Dawn was still several hours away, and they needed all the sleep they could get to prepare for what the next day would bring. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and any feedback is welcome! <3 - Lis


End file.
